chessin



June 2, 1942. A. CHESSIN 2,284,723

CONVERTIBLE GARMENT Filed March 6, 1941 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 IN VENTOR.

June. 2, 1942- A. CHESSIN CONVERTIBLE GARMENT Filed March 6,. 1941 3Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR.

June 2, 1942. A c Ess N v 2,284,723

CONVERTIBLE GARMENT Filed March 6, 1941 a Sheets-Sheet s INVENTOR.

Patented June 2, 1942 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 2,284,723 1CONVERTIBLE GARMENT Alexander Chessin, Yonkers, N. Y. Application March6, 1941, Serial No. 381,932

2 Claims.

The present invention relates to convertible garments and, moreparticularly, to a culotte convertible into a skirt and vice versa.

. Conversion of an ordinary skirt into a culotte, although repeatedlyattempted, did'not succeed because there is no material in an ordinaryskirt to provide for the crotch portion indispensable in a culotte.Unless a special form of skirt is devised, the conversion, to besuccessful, should 'be reversed, i. e. it should be from a culotte intoa skirt, and theproblem, then, is to take care of the crotch portion ofthe culotte which becomes surplusage in the skirt. Accordingly, it isone of the purposes of the present invention to base the convertiblegarment on a standard culotte pattern. It is also a purpose of thepresent invention to provide the' crotch from both, the front and therear panels of the garment, i. e. the material which becomes surplusage'in the conversion from culotte into skirt is distributed, being dividedinto two parts of less bulk and, therefore, more'easily taken care of.Another purpose of the present invention is to conceal the crotchportion from view when the culotte is converted into a skirt, at thesame time creating no bulges and allowing the skirt to fall naturally,smoothly and neatly, with no indication whatsoever that it is aconverted garment and not a bona fide skirt. Still another purpose is toprevent sagging of the skirt because of the weight of the crotch surplusage by properly supporting the crotch portions which are concealedunderneath the front and the rear panels of the garment, especially whenthe conversion is effected by means of metal slide connectors, popularlyknown as zippers, the weight of which, unless properly supported, wouldincrease the sagging tendency due to the weight of the surplus materialof the no longer necessary crotch portions. A further purpose of thepresent invention is to allow the conversion from culotte to skirt andvice versa to be made by the person wearing the garment without takingit off or appearing undressed while making the change. The lastmentioned feature presents a definite and very considerable advantage.It is also 'a purpose of the present invention to make the garment,whether as a culotte or as a skirt, have an attractive and stylishappearance. A still further purpose of the invention is to provide agarment which is shadow proof, as a skirt thus necessitating no slipwhich would be in the way when the garment is in the form of a culotte.Other objects will become apparent from the specification which follows.

While the invention as here illustrated shows a garment convertible fromculotte to skirt, i. e. a comparatively short skirt, it is obvious thatit is quite asreadily applicable to garments convertible from longskirts into trousers or slacks, from robes into pajamas and vice versa,the only difference between such garments being the length and thematerial of the garment.

Referring to the drawings, Figure 1' is a complete lay out of thepattern used for making a garment embodying the present invention andcomprising four panels, two front and two rear panels. Figure 2 is aplan view of the back panels sewn together along the crotch outline whenthe garment is arranged as a skirt. Figure 3 is a similar view of thefront panels when sewn together aiong the crotch outline. Figure 4:is adetail showing one of the crotch supporting pieces. a Figure 5 is aperspective view of another pattern wherein the corresponding front andrear panels are formed in a single piece instead of separately. Thisfigure is in a reduced size as compared to Figure 1. Figure 6 is a frontview of the garment as a skirt. Figure 7 is a plan view or this skirtopened along one of its extreme outer seams and laid out fiat showingthe construction inside.

Figure 8 is across section along the line 88 of Figure 6. is a crosssection along the line 9-9 of Figure 6. Both, Figures 8 and 9 areenlarged in scale. Figure 10 is a front view of 'the garment as aculotte. Figure 11 is a plan View similar to Figure '7 but when thegarment is in the form of a culotte. Figures 12 and 13 are,respectively, cross sections along the lines I 2-:2 and |3--l3 of Figure10, enlarged.

Referring to the figures in detail, designates the rear rig-ht panel, 2the rear left panel, 3 the front left panel and 4 the front right panel.The words left and right refer to the sides corresponding to the leftand right legs respectively. It will be noted that the correspondingfront and rear panels are identical in shape, so that the garment hasexactly the same appearance whether viewed from the front or from therear. Therefore, Figures 6 and 10 respectively are also rear views ofthe skirt and culotte. In Figure 1, 5 and 5' designate, respectively,the crotch defining curves on panels I and 2; likewise, 6 and 6'designate the crotch defining curves on panels 3 and 4, respectively. Asshown in Figure 2, the two rear panels I and 2 are sewn together alongthe edges formed by the curves 5 and 5, thus making up the crotch seamI8. Likewise, the panels 3 and 4 are sewn tog-ether along the Figure 9edges formed by the curves 6 and 6', making up the crotch seam I9. Goingback toFigure 1, I and I are, respectively, the extreme outer side linesof the panels I and 4, defining the edges which, when sewn together formthe extreme outer seams of the garment on one side thereof. Likewise, 8and 8 are, respectively the extreme outer side lines of panels 2 and 3which, when sewn together form the extreme outer seam of the garment onthe other side thereof. At the top of the garment, an opening isprovided between the panels 2 and 3, operated by a slide connector oneelement of which, 9, is secured to the panel 2 and a cooperatingelement, 9, is secured to the panel 3. From the meeting point I6 of thecurves 5, 6, 6, down, the edges III of panel I),

III (of panel 2), II (of panel 4) and II (ofpanel 3) are also providedwith slide connectors with mutually cooperating elements, to wit: I2 onedge I0, I3 on edge Ill, I4 on edge II and I5 on edge II. The garmentswaist line is designated by the numeral II. The garment is provided witha set of box pleats in front and in the rear, each set comprising acentral or median pleat and two pleats 2|, 2| disposed symmetricallythereto.

The construction of the median pleat 29 requires some elucidation. Itwill be noted that the panels I and 3 are slightly wider than the panels2 and 4. The dash-dot lines 28, 29 and indicate folding lines of thegarment. The difference in width between the panels I and 3 and thepanels 2 and 4 is twice the width between the folding lines 28 and 29.The reason for this construction is that, in forming the median pleat20, the panels 2 and 4 are folded once only, namely, along the lines 30,whereas the panels I and 3 are folded twice, once along the line 29(which is an inner fold) and again along the line 28 (which is an outerfold). Beth, at the front and at the rear, the panels present foldswhich are adjacent to one another along the respective median lines ofthe skirt, namely, the folded panels I and 2 form adjacent lines 29 and30 along the rear median line of the skirt (or, which is the same thing,the median line of the median pleat) and the folded panels 3 and 4 formadjacent lines 29 and 30 along the front median line of the skirt. Thisconstruction is necessary to enable the garment to hang properly, as Ihave found after considerable experimentation. Unless the garment whenin the form of a skirt is provided with the so constructed median pleat,the panels 2 and 4 will project forward of the panels I and 3 along themedian line, front or back, of the skirt, at the folding lines 30,giving the skirt an ungainly appearance. The crotch supporting piece 22,shown separately in Figure 4, are sewn to the garment along the lines23, on the inside, thus also forming a lining for the garment.Preferably, they are made of silk in order to improve the fit of thegarment. Obviously, the crotch portions may be supported in severalother ways, as, for instance, by a strap secured to the waist line ofthe garment. When supported as shown in the drawings, the weight of thecrotch portions is taken up from the waist line also, the pieces 22being sewn to the garment at that line also. The crotch material issecured to the supporting pieces 22 by any convenient detachable means,as, for instance, the snap fastener 24, one element whereof is securedto the piece 22 and the other to the crotch portion at the point I6. Itwill be noted that the seams 26 and 21 on Figures 7 and 11 are the seamsformed when the extreme outer edges I and I' are sewn together and the(see Figure 12).

edges 8 and 8' are sewn together, the first one of these seams (26)being shown as actually appearing in the garment and the other (21)severed in the process of developing the garment, as previouslyexplained, to disclose the inside construction. As shown in Figures 6and 10, the garment is provided with a belting 25 along the waist lineII.

It will be clear from the drawings that when the garment is to be formedinto a culotte, the element I2 of one of the slide connectors abovereferred to is connected to the element I5, and the element I3 isconnected to the element I4 When the garment is to be in the form of askirt, the element I2 is connected to the element I3, and the element [4to the element I5 (see Figure 8). In Figure 7, one of the supportingpieces 22 is shown partly folded to better illustrate the construction.Also, one of the crotch portions is shown as partly folded to illustratewhat happens to this surplusage of material when the garment is formedinto a skirt. When the garment is formed into a culotte, the two crotchportions are secured to one another at the point I6 by the same snapfastener 24.

The modification illustrated in Figure 5 differs from the embodimentdescribed above only in one respect, namely, it has no seams 26, 21,because the panels I and 4 are made of one piece, and the panels 2 and 3are similarly made of one piece. This construction, however, is unusual.Common practice dictates the use of separate panels such as areillustrated in Figure 1.

Naturally, the slide connectors shown in the illustrations are not theonly means for separably connecting the several panels. The presentinvention contemplates any other equivalent means for accomplishing thesame result. Slide connectors are here shown because they are thequickest means for making the conversion from one type to the other ofthe garment and because they are very popular.

As was stated in the preamble, the invention may be readily applied to anumber of other garments, converting, for instance, pajamas into a robe,or vice versa; trousers or slacks into a correspondingly long skirt andvice versa; in general, a. garment on the skirt principle into one onthe trouser principle. Obvious variations of the present invention,including some additions, omissions, or changes in detail, would notaffect the general character and scope of the invention and it is to beunderstood that such variations are within the contemplation of thepresent invention and need not be further illustrated. It may not beamiss, however, to emphasize some of the salient features and advantagesof the present invention. One is that the wearer can easily make theconversion from culotte to skirt and vice versa without removing thegarment, merely disengaging some of the slide connector elements andre-engaging them to different elements, as above explained. Thus, awoman riding to her office on a bicycle, for example, can arrange thegarment as a culotte while riding and quickly change it into a skirtupon arriving at her office, without the necessity of disrobing. Thecentral pleat (20) is important not only because it insures the correcthanging of the skirt, as above explained, but also because it rendersthe garment shadow proof, the other pleats being added mainly for thesake of better appearance.

I claim:

1. A convertible garment comprising a pair of front and a pair of rearpanels, the top edges whereof form the waist line of said garment, the

and said connecting curved portions, forming the central body seams ofthe garment and each front panel being permanently united with thecorresponding rear panel at the sides of the garment, means forseparably uniting each front panel with the corresponding rear panelalong said lower portions of the inner edges, said means also serving toseparably unite the front panels and the rear panels respectively alongthe said lower portions of said inner edges, front and rear crotchportions formed by the front and rear pan- I els respectively when thefront panels are unitthe inner edges of said panels having substantiallystraight upper and lower portions and a downwardly and outwardly curvedconnecting portion, the front panels and the rear panels respectivelybeing sewn together along said upper straight and said connecting curvedportions,

forming the central body seams of thevgarment, and each front panelbeing permanently united withthe corresponding rear panel at the sidesof the garment, means for separably uniting each front panel with thecorresponding rear panel r along said lower portions of the inner edges,said means also serving to separably unite the front panels and the rearpanels respectively along said lower portions of said inner edges, frontand rear crotch portions formed by the front and rear panelsrespectively when the front panels are united to their correspondingrear panels along their inner edges, and a lining member for said panelssecured to said garment at said waist line and along its longitudinaledges to theadjacent panel, and carrying one element of a separablefastener at the lower portion thereof, said crotch portions carryingacooperating element of said fastener and being detachably secured tosaid lining member when said front and rear panels respectively areunited along their inner edges and the garment is worn as a, skirt.

ALEXANDER CHESSIN;

